The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-02-09
FRuIT-cRowERs.
Closing Day Of the Maine Pomologi
cal Society.

PENNINGTON, Feb. A, 1887.
The second days session was called to or
der by President Pope, a goodly number of
the citizens of Pennington and vicinity be-
ing in attendance. The first essay presented
was that on Fruits in Aroostook County,
by Mr. E. w. Merritt of Houl.on. Mr.. Mer-
rift in his introduction alluded to the great
variety in the condition of the soil and eli
mate in Aroostook county due in great
measure to its large area, and called the at
tention of the audience to the fact that while
one hundred and forty varieties could be
grown around Bangor only twenty could be
successfully grown in the vicinity of Houl-
ton and but four or five at the latitude of
Fort Fairfield. This he attributed to the
lack of high land and to the hard climate.
He considered orcharding in his county as
yet in its infancy, and although much time
and money had been spent, yet orchards do
not thrive because there is not given proper
care or judgment in the selection of hardy
trees, and from the lack of care in protecting
from cattle, mice, borers, etc. He empha-
sized the fact that orcharding is a success in
Aroostook and will continue to improve up
to certain distance, which he places at as
miles north of Bridgewator. Beyond this he
thinks it impracticable to try to raise fruit
unless it be of fall or early winter varieties,
owing to the extreme cold and improper soil.
He presented some interesting facts in rela-
ton to the nursery business, proving conclu-
sively that it was almost impossible to grow
a single tree from the reed. He makes the
statement that there is no spot on the face os
the earth better adapted to the growth of
small fruits than Ar0Ost0ok county. He at
tributed this to the soil and to the fact of
the snow laying ON the the ground for such
long period. The most serious obstacle in
currant and gooseberry culture is the currant
worm; but limited home market is also a
hindrance. He considers two thousand
pecks per acre Of gooseberries a moderate
yield. They bring $1.00 per peck. he rec
ommends the manufacture of eurrants into
a good crop, coming in when other fields are
dry. Manchester and Sharples do the best
with him, but he has no trouble with other
varieties. Blackberries receive but little at
tention as they are not hardy enough for the
climate.
The next paper was by Henry A. Sprague
of Charlotte, on the subject, What shall we
do to increase the profits of fruit culture in
Maine?" The two principal methods pre-
sented by Mr.: Sprague were to grow more
price for what we do grow. As means
toward the growing of more and better fruit
he urged the farmers to demand legislation
TO protect insectivor0us birds and animals.
To raise the price of fruit he also thought
farmers should demand higher duty on
Canadian fruit so that where their crop
exceeded ours not so much Canadian fruit
would be shipped. Mr.. Sprague then gave
some interesting notes on the growth of
irult culture in his county. Fruit is winter
ing well. Pears bore fairly well and give
promise Of doing better in the future. The
cranberry crop was "a total failure, owing to
early frosts. He recommended the Schaffer
raspberry as hardy and well matured berry
Tor Maine fruit growers to raise. He then
gave some opinions on short-jointed trees,
which went to show that they were not as
hardy as long-jointed ones.
Mr.. Leander III. Blossom, of Turner Cen
tire, then presented an instructive paper on.
What are the chief defects in our present
system of orchard management" Mr.. Bios
som, in handling his subject, spoke first of
the necessity of starting right in establishing
an orchard. He thought that northern or
western slope was preferable to all others, as
trees planted on such ground would be less
liable to winter-kill or be affected by
drouth. He advocated the planting of low
head ed trees, and thought that they were
well protected from cold, sweeping winds.
Mr.. Blossom dwelt at considerable length on
the matter of drainage, believing Ii to be an
absolute necessity to the thrifty growth of
the tree. The drainage should be deeper Cor
orcharding than for any other crop. His
principle in pruning is to prune the top in pro-
portion to the amount the roots that were cut
at the time of digging, thus preserving the
natural balance OF the tree. Cut out all I'M
necessary branches first, then, if necessary.
prune the longest limbs. Keep the top of
the tree well open to let in the sunlight. a
necessary factor to the production Of the
handsomest apples. He urged the necessity
of combining the production of fruit to the
growing of few standard varieties. believ-
ing this to be the keynote of success In Maine